Method and apparatus for wrapping articles



y 1935- e. MEYER-JAGENBERG 4 Q A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPINGARTICLES Filed Nov. 9, 1934 9 Sheets-Sheet l oezcera Juiy M, 1936. G.MEYER-JAGENBERG 9 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WR APPTNQ' ARTICLES FiledNov. 9, 1954 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 IIIIIA'IIIIWIIIIIIIIIIIIII July 14, 1936.

G. MEYER-JAGENBERG METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Filed Nov.9, 1934 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 14, 1936. I G. MEYER-JAGENB-ERG' r2,047,486

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Fig IIIIII July 14-, 1936.

G. MEYER-JAGENBERG METHOD AND APPARA'IEUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES FiledNov. 9, 1954 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 July 14, 1936.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR Filed Nov. 9, 1934 G. MEYER-JAGENBERG WRAPPINGARTICLES 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 July 14', 1936. s. MEYER-JAGENBERG 2,047,486

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Filed Nbv. 9, 1934 9Sheets-Sheet 8 ain/1 21 eyer y 1936- G. ME YER-JAGENBERG 2,047,486

" METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Filed Nov. 9, 1934 9Sheets-Sheet 9 Affy Patented Jul 14, 1936 UNITED STATES METHOD APPARATUSFOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Giinther Meyer-Jagenberg, Dusseldorf, GermanyApplication November 9,

1934, Serial No. 752,358-

Germany November 9, 1,933

13 Claims. I

This invention is directed to a method and apparatus for wrappingsubstantially round articles in appropriate material, with the extendedends intertwisted and coiled to prevent casual unwrapping.

It has heretofore been proposed towrap a flat sheet of material aroundan article, with the ends of the wrapper lapping, and intertwisting thelapped ends beyond the article for holding the m wrapper in place. Thismethod of securing a wrapping about an article relies particularly uponthe twisted condition of the ends and as the ends so twisted usuallyproject beyond the article, there is more or less liability of a casualuntwisting during transportation or handling, with a consequent loss ofthe purposes of the wrapper.

The primary object oi'the present invention is to so arrange the wrapperaround the article that the meeting ends of the wrapper are disposedwith their inner surfaces in contact and projected away from thearticle, with the intertwisting of the projecting portion of the wrappercausing these contacting ends to be rolled into a seamlike connection,as distinguished from the ordinary wrapping arrangement of v thepreviously known wrapping. methods of this character. Through theintertwisting of the ends, the meeting edges of the wrapper are rolledinto a seamlike formation, which so interlocks these edges as to avoidthe possibility of separati'onin casual handling, and thus the wrapperwill servev as a complete closure under all normal conditions, being aseffectively interlocked throughout the seam of the wrapper overlying thearticle as at the twisted ends. 1

A further object of the invention is thepro sion of means which, duringthe final twisting operation of the projecting ends of the wrapper, willcause said twisted ends to be more or less coiled with respect to theaxis of wrapping to thus cause the twisted ends to'be placed closelyadjacent the article being wrapped to further protect against casualseparation or opening.

' The invention involves the method for carrying out the particular typeof wrapping as well as. the apparatus for perfecting the method. Theimproved method consists in placing a wrapper of I selected materialabout the article to be wrapped so that the meeting ends of the wrapperare arranged with their relatively inner surfaces in contact andprojecting away from the article being wrapped. These contacting endsare then gripped and twisted, duringwhich the meeting portions of theends immediately overlying the 65 article are rolled into an interlockedseamed rethe transfer of the article during the twisting of the wrappingand coiling operation, Figure 12 lation to provide an eiiective sealingwhile at'the same time the ends of the wrapper projecting beyond thearticle in both directions are intertwisted to. close said ends, withthe intertwisting continued until the wrapper is in more or less closecontact with the article being wrapped. Following or during thefinalstages of the intertwisting, the intertwisted length at each end of thewrapper is caused to follow a path which will compel the intertwistedportion to assume a substantially coiled form in close contact with thesurface of the wrapper overlying the article.

By this method, the wrapper is interlocked about the article and thetwisted ends eflectively coiled in close proximity to the article.

The apparatus for carrying out the method is, in a preferred form,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing theapparatus with the parts substantially in normal positions.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing the meansfor feeding the wrapper to the apparatus. a

Figure 4 is an end view, partly in section, ofthe apparatus.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the parts in the positionsoccupied inthe initial application of the wrapper.

Figure 6 is a similar view showing the wrapper following the completionof its'initial movement about the article.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating initial position to asecondary illustrating particularly the coiling operation.

- Figure 13 is a plan showing the coiling operation.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the completed article in the wrapper,showing one twisted end coiled as the result of the method andapparatus.

Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view showing a modified form of band bywhich the article is turned during the coiling movement.

With particular reference to Figures 1, 2, and 4, 5 it will be notedthat the articles to be wrapped,

indicated at I, are advanced singly by means of stop 5 prevents itsfurther advance.

to be periodically moved to release the forward article for furthermovement in the same direction and retard succeeding articles until thefirst article is out of the way.

A stop 5 is arranged in the path of the article advancing beyond thegate 1 and at the lower end of the stop and on each side thereof arepivotally supported downwardly inclined plates 6 which act to supportthe article from beneath while the The stop 5 is yieldingly held inposition on a pivot 5' and by a coil spring 5" and the supporting plates6 are held in supporting position by connecting springs 6', such platesbeing thus permitted to move outwardly under pressure from above.

The wrapping material, indicated at 20, is fed from a roll overappropriate guide rollers 13 and I4 and onto a platform i5. The wrappingmaterial is preferably dampened by an appropriate dampening mechanismillustrated more particularly at l2 in Figure 3. Grippers operated intimed reciprocation through appropriately actuated rods II, are designedto be advanced to the edge of the platform l5, grip the wrapper and movethe same to a position beneath the plates 5, the grippers carrying thefree edge l of the wrapper beyond said plates in the direction of thelatter movement, as clearly indicated in Figure 1. As the wrapperreaches this position, a cutter l6, actuated by timed mechanism ofconventional form and not necessary to illustrate, is moved downwardlyto sever the wrapper against an appropriate metallic edge at the end ofthe platform l5, as indicated in Figure 4.

The paper web has one appropriate wrapper dimension in its width whichconstitutes the overlies spaced suction heads I3 and I9, which suctionheads underlie those ends of the wrapper which correspond to thelongitudinal margins of the wrapping material web; that is to say, thesuction heads are disposed parallel to the path of movement of thewrapper in initially positioning the same. These suction heads aremounted for rotation about pivots 2| and 22 at the upper ends of arms23, one of which arms, as the one supporting the suction head I3, ismounted for swinging movement at 3| through the medium of a rod 24actuated by swinging lever 24 and by rotating cam 24". The arm 23 of theother suction head I9 is mounted for sliding movement on an appropriatesupport through an arm 23 actuated by a conventional timed swinginglever 23", a pin and slot formation l9 serving to guide arm 23'. Thelever 23 is moved by a rotating cam 23" Immediately beneath thearticleheld between the plates 6 and against'the stop 5 is a concave receiver 3supported upon a post 3 operated by conventional and timed mechanism tomove downwardly at the appropriate stage of operation. Overlying thearticle in the position stated is a plunger 4 rounded on its lower endand preferably having a protective layer at such lower end to avoidman'i ng the article. The plunger, including the upright 4', is actuatedby conventional timed mechanism not necessary to illustrate, and whenthe parts described are actuated, the plunger forces the articledownwardly into the receiver 8 carrying with it the central portion ofthe wrapper and displacing the plates 6 to permit this movement. Theplunger and receiver then move downwardly with the article while at thesame time the arms 23 of the suction heads move inwardly. As the articlecontinues its downward movement and the suction heads move inwardly, thewrapper will finally be disposed about the article in one direction.

During the inward movement of the suction heads l8 and IS, the headsproper are swung by appropriate conventional means on their pivots 2|and 22 until they finally reach a plane horizontally above the article,with the heads aligned. The swinging movement of the suction heads iscaused by the fixed cams 2|" and 22", against which the rollers 2| and22' of the said suction heads are forced. This movement of the heads isan uninterrupted one, so that as the operation of the initial wrappingis completed, the heads will have disposed the ends of the wrapper abovethe article being wrapped, with the inner surfaces of such ends incontact, as substantially illustrated in Figure 6. The wrapper is thusapplied about the article with the ends thereof projecting upwardly fromthe article with their inner surfaces in contact.

The projecting ends of the wrapper above the article are then gripped bygrippers 25 and 25. These grippers are illustrated more particularly inFigures 1, 2, and 4. Each gripper includes a sleeve 29' supported on theupper end of an arm 29 pivotally mounted for swinging on a shaft 3|, thearm being appropriately operated by a crank shaft 29" through a rod 29".Rotatably mounted in the sleeve 29' is a hollow core 32 on which isfixed a gripper lip 34. Pivotally supported upon the core 32 is acooperating gripper lip 44 influenced by the roller 45.

A rod is movable longitudinally through the bore of the core 32 andappropriately operated by an arm 42 having an arcuate pressure member 43to engage the gripper lip 44 and swing the same into grippingcooperation with the gripper lip 34. The gripper 25, a duplicate of thegripper 26, onsists of a fixed lip 34 and a movable lip 44. A rod 35 isslidably arranged in the hollow core 32 and is provided with aprojecting end 46. A quadrant 43, fixed to a swinging lever 42, operatesto advance to the outer end of the rod 35, pushing the same inwardly andcausing the projecting end 46 to bear against the roller 45 and open thegripper by moving the lip 44. The core 32 is provided at one end with apinion which is in mesh with an arcuate rack 39 carried on the upper endof an arm 39 mounted for swinging movement on the shaft 3| and operatedby a connecting rod 33" and by rotating crank shaft.

The gripper lips 34 and 44 of each gripper 25 and 28 are thus broughtinto gripping cooperation through the endwise movement of the rod 35 andare capable of being rotated axially through cooperation of the pinion40 and rack 39. As the article to be wrapped and the wrapper reach theposition shown in Figure 6, the edges 41 and 48 turned up by the suctionheads with their inner surfaces in contact will be in position to bebetween the gripper lips 34 and 44 of each gripper 25 and 26. Thesegrippers, of course, engage the ends of the outstanding portions of thewrapper and at thispoint in the operation, the rods 35 tion and moveback substantially have been operated to cause the gripper lip 44 to bebrought into gripping cooperation with the complementary gripping lip34. The ends 01' the wrapper in line with the projecting portions arethus held in the grippers and at this point in the operation the suctionheads are relieved of sucto normal position.

The arm 29 is then swung downwardly and, at the same time, the arm 39'is moved to the left, as illustrated in Figure 1, turning the pinion 40and thereby the grippers with the effector twisting the ends of thewrapper. In the initial turning movement of the grippers, they willoperate, as indicated in Figure 10, to roll in the projecting uppermeeting ends of the wrapper which have been positioned. by the suctionheads and which the grippers and 26 initially engage, as shown in Figure9. These projecting contacting edges 41 and 48'of the wrapper are rolledor interlocked and the twisting operation incident to the turning of thegrippers is continued until the grippers are positioned at substantiallythe axis of the point of twisting, that is, the transverse axis of thearticle being wrapped.

As the article and wrapper are moved downwardly through the medium ofthe plunger 4 and receiver 8, they are finally positioned in a carrier'21 having spaced arms appropriately shaped to receive and support thearticle in the wrapper. These arms are actuated through appropriatemechanism of conventional type, including a swinging lever 21' and arotating cam 21", and as the rotation of the grippers complete therolling in of the seam, the plunger and receiver withdraw, leaving the'wrapped article supported onthe arms 21.

During the movement of the lever 29 carrying the grippers to the right,the grippers are continually rotated through cooperation with theoppositely moving racks 39. There is thus a continuous twistingoperation of the ends of the wrapper, during which the cores 32 carryingthe grippers .are moved inwardly toward each other through thecooperation of a roller 21 in order to compensate for the naturalshortening in the length of the material'incident to the twisting. Thismovement of the parts carries the wrapped article on to an endlesstraveling belt or belts 49. I

As the wrapped article reaches the belt or belts 49, the twisted endsinwardly of the grippers 25 and 26 are engaged by a further pair ofgrippers 50 and 5|. The grippers 50 and ii are mounted for bodilymovement in a direction longitudinally of the path of travel of theupper phase of the belts 49. The grippers 50 and ii are mounted on apair of levers pivotable at 50" and driven by connecting rods androtating dlscs'ili. Such grippers 50 and ii are capable of swingingmovement about a pivot 53 but do not revolve in themselves. Thesegrippers 50 and 5| grip the twisted ends inwardly of the grippers 25 and26 and move the wrapped article alongthe belt or belts 49 and as thebelts, in their movement, turn the wrapped article while the twistedends areflrmly held by the grippers 50 and 5|, there is a further andtighter twisting incident to this cooperation.

As the twisted ends, which have now been relieved of the grippers 25 and26, are shortened incident to this additional twisting movement bythebelts 49 and grippers 50 and ii, the grippers swing inwardly ontheir'pivots 53 to accommodate the reduced length of the. twisted end.The grippers 5i! and 5| are compelled to travel during the movement ofthe wrapped article along of the wrapper, means {or carrying the article76 the belt through an arc which'at the start is in the line of twistingaxis and which gradually moves below that line as the articles areadvanced along the belts. Thus, the line of movement 0! the grippers 50and 5| is indicated by the line oi travel K in Figure 12. This carriesthe ends of the twisted portions-which are held between the grippers 50and 5| into a plane below the axis of twist indicated at W, with theresult that these twisted ends are compelled to coil inwardlysubstantially in contact with the wrapper about the article, the coiledends being indicated at 52 in Figure .14. .Toinsure'a proper turningmovement of the article and its wrapper during the holding of thetwisted ends, an upper belt 55 may be provided, the operative phase ofwhich is, of course, moving into a direction opposite to the operativephase of the belt or belts 49.

In certain types of articles, particularly those which, when stored, areapt to lose their shape,

the top wrapper belt 55 will not always be sufllcient to insure properrotation of the articles in connection with the belt. 49 owing to thisaltered b belt isarranged as indicated in Figure 15. In this form, thewrapper belt, here indicated at 60, is led over rollers 63, 64, and 65fltted in a guide pieceGl pivotally supported at 62. Through appropriatemechanism of conventional type. the guide piece BI is swung on its pivotuntil the belt is arranged in the formoi' a loop 68, so that thegrippers 50 and SI will move the article in its wrapper into this loop01 the belt, which, of ,course, is traveling in the appropriatedirection, to insure that the article will be'appropriately turned bythe belt. As the loop will accurately fit the article notwithstanding asomewhat irregular shape and-as it is tensioned to grip the articlethrough a tensioning roller 56, it is apparent that an efiectiverotation of the wrapped article will be obtained in the movement 01' thebelt. When the wrapping is completed, and the grippers 50 and 5|released, the guide 8| is swung back to normal position indicated indotted lines in-Figure l5, whereupon the upper phase of the beltprovides a conveyor forthe delivery of the wrapped articles beyond themachine.

What is claimed to be new is: 1.v An apparatus for wrappingsubstantially means for positioning a wrapper, means for supporting anarticle above the wrapper, means for depressing the article and wrapper,suction heads vfor engaging the ends of the wrapper, means for movingthe suction heads to fold the wrapper 'about the article in onedirection with the inner surfaces of the edges in contact, grippers forengaging the contacting edges-beyond the article, and means forrevolving the grippers to interi'old the contacting edges and twist theprojecting ends of the wrapper.

2. An apparatus for wrapping substantially round and similarly shapedarticles, consisting in means for positioning a wrapper, means forsupporting an article above the wrapper, means for depressing thearticle and wrapper, suction heads for engaging the ends of the wrapper,means for during the twisting operation laterally and downwardly, and amoving belt for receiving the article and operative to turn the articleduring the furthe: twisting thereof.

3. An apparatus for wrapping substantially round and similarly shapedarticles, consisting in means for positioning a wrapper, means forsupporting an article above the wrapper, means for depressing thearticle and wrapper, suction heads for engaging the ends of the wrapper,means for moving the suction heads to fold the wrapper about the articlein one direction with the inner surfaces of the edges in contact,grippers for engaging the contacting edges beyond the article, means forrevolving the grippers to interfold the contacting edges and twist theprojecting ends of'the'wrapper, means for carrying the article duringthe twisting operation laterally and downwardly, a moving belt forreceiving the article and operative to turn the article during thefurther twisting thereof, and means for deflecting 'the twisted ends ofthe article during the final twisting to coil such ends.

4. A construction as defined in claim 3, wherein 23 the grippers aremounted for a predetermined longitudinal movement to compensate for thevariation in length of the twisted ends during twisting.

X 5. A construction as defined in claim 3, wherein the means fordeflecting the twisted ends include grippers fixed against rotation andmounted for free pivotal movement, and means for guiding the last namedgrippers for deflecting the twisted ends.

6. An apparatus for wrapping substantially round and similarly shapedarticles, consisting in means for positioning a wrapper, movablesupports for supporting an article above the wrapper, a plunger formoving the article and wrapper 4o downwardly to the supports, suctionheads for engaging the downwardly moving wrapper, means for operatingthe suction heads to carry the same upwardly around the article with theinner. surfaces of the meeting edges in contact, grippers for engagingthe extreme ends of the contacting edges, means'for' revolving thegrippers'to interfold the contacting edges and subsequently intertwistthe open edges of the wrapper beyond the article, a receiver for thearticle, a moving belt,

means for operating the receiver to deliver the article to the movingbelt for rotation thereby, means for moving the grippers with thearticle,

and secondary grippers for engaging the twisted ends and holding theends fixed during the rotation of the article by the belt.

'7. A construction as defined in claim 6, wherein the last namedgrippers are movable to displace 5 and coiling operations.

9, A construction as defined in claim 6, wherein the first namedgrippers are mounted for longitudinal movement to compensate for thevaria- 15 tion in length of the wrapper during twisting operation,together with means for compelling a predetermined longitudinal movementof the grippers during the twisting movement thereof.

10. A method of wrapping substantially round 20 and similarly shapedarticles, consisting in folding a fiat wrapper about the article withthe inner surfaces of its meeting ends in contact throughout the lengthof the wrapper, and subjecting the ends of the wrapper beyond thearticle to 26 a twisting operation to simultaneously interfold themeeting ends of the wrapper throughout the length of the article andtwist that portion of the wrapper beyond the ends of the article.

11. A method of wrapping substantially round 30 and similar articles,consisting in enveloping the article in a fiat wrapper with the innersurfaces of the free edges of the wrapper in contact, and subjecting theends of the wrapper beyond the article to a twisting operation tosimultaneously 35 interfold the meeting edges of the wrapper between theends and twist said ends.

12. A method of wrapping substantially round and similarly shapedarticles, consisting in enveloping the article in a flat wrapper withthe 40 inner surfaces of the wrapper in contact beyond the article, andsubjecting the meeting ends of the wrapper to a twisting operation tosimultaneously provide an interlocking fold of the meeting portions ofthe wrapper between the twisted areas 46 and the twisting of the meetingsurfaces of the wrapper beyond the interfolded portions thereof. 13. Anadditional step in the method defined in claim 10, consisting insubsequently coiling the twisted ends of the wrapper to reduce the pro-50 jection of said twisted ends beyond the article.

GUN'I'HER MEYER-JAGENBERG.

